The day started off rather brisk (6 C at departure), as we headed south out of Copper Harbor on US41 towards Houghton, where we stopped for breakfast. We decided to don our rain pants at the start, if for no other reason than to keep the chill off of the legs. The ride along US41 was very nice – the road is a bit wider than M26 but still has enough dips and curves to make it interesting.
lou.dealmeida
38 chapters
15 Apr 2020
June 16, 2019
The day started off rather brisk (6 C at departure), as we headed south out of Copper Harbor on US41 towards Houghton, where we stopped for breakfast. We decided to don our rain pants at the start, if for no other reason than to keep the chill off of the legs. The ride along US41 was very nice – the road is a bit wider than M26 but still has enough dips and curves to make it interesting.
After we warmed up a bit in Houghton, we continued south and west along M26 and M28 through to Ontonagon. We could certainly feel the temperature drop yet again as we approached the south shore of Lake Superior. We started to get a few sprinkles, so the rest of the rain gear went on – no need to ride in temperatures of less than 10 C in wet leather!
At Ontonago, we picked up M64 and rode it all the way down to where it rejoins M28 in Bergland. After a short stint on US2, we turned onto CR-505, with our intended destination being Superior Falls. However, a couple of miles up the road, we saw a sign that said that the road was closed 11 miles to our north, so we doubled back onto US2 and then picked up M122 in order to go to Superior Falls – we never did get to the falls, because there is quite a steep descent to get down to the base and truth be told, biker gear isn’t really suitable for hiking!
After fueling up in Ashland, we decided to do a loop along M13 and stopped for lunch at the Pier Plaza in the quaint little town of Bayfield. M13 was also another fun road to ride, as it winds around the peninsula. Eventually, we wound back up again on US2 and followed that into Superior, WI for one last fuel stop for the day. That was also the departure point for Jerry, as his destination for the night was Two Harbors, MN where he will then continue his Lake Superior
Circle Tour through Thunder Bay and Sudbury and back on into London.
For us, once we crossed the St Louis River into Minnesota, we stayed on US 2 (which we will be driving for the next couple of days) all the way into the city of Grand Rapids and our home for the night, the Forest Lake Motel. Dinner was next door at The Forest Lake Restaurant and Lounge.
All in all, another good day in the saddle, and by the time we were done we had travelled just over 668 kms on the day, bringing the total for the trip so far to 1,863 kms.
It was also quite the day for us getting very close to numerous species of wildlife – we saw numerous deer, a black bear, a wolverine, 2 bald eagles, a raccoon, some cranes and lots and lots of turkey vultures. Thankfully, none of them came so close to us to require any kind of drastic maneuvers!
1.
Pre-Trip Stuff
2.
Planned Trip routing
3.
Day 1 - St Thomas. ON to St Ignace, MI
4.
Day 2 - St Ignace, MI to Copper Harbor, MI
5.
Day 3 - Copper Harbor, MI to Grand Rapids, MN
6.
Day 4 - Grand Rapids, MN to Minot, ND
7.
Day 5 - Minot, ND to Malta, MT
8.
Day 6 - Malta, MT to Choteau, MT
9.
Day 7 - Choteau, MT to Mossleigh, AB
10.
Day 8 - Mossleigh, AB to Canmore, AB
11.
Day 9 - Canmore, AB to Hinton, AB
12.
Day 10 - Hinton, AB to Dawson Creek, BC
13.
Day 11 - Dawson Creek, BC to Fort Nelson, BC
14.
Day 12 - Fort Nelson, BC to Watson Lake, YT
15.
Day 13 - Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YR
16.
Day 14 – Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT
17.
Day 15 – Dawson City, YT to Tok, AK
18.
Day 16 – Tok, AK to Valdez, AK
19.
Day 17 – Valdez, AK to Whittier, AK
20.
Day 18 - Whittier, AK to Homer, AK
21.
Day 19 – Homer, AK to Bird Creek, AK
22.
Day 20 – Bird Creek, AK to Palmer, AK
23.
Day 21 - Palmer, AK to Anderson, AK
24.
Day 22 - Anderson, AK to Tok, AK
25.
Day 23 - Tok, AK to Whitehorse, YT
26.
Day 24 - Whitehorse, YT to Dease Lake, BC
27.
Day 25 - Dease Lake, BC to New Hazelton, BC
28.
Day 26 - New Hazelton, BC to Prince George, BC
29.
Day 27 - Prince George, BC to Entwistle, AB
30.
Day 28 – Entwistle, AB to Red Deer, AB
31.
Day 29 – Red Deer, AB to Drumheller, AB
32.
Day 30 - Drumheller, AB to Regina, SK
33.
Day 31 - Regina, SK to Steinbach, MB
34.
Day 32 - Steinbach, MB to Duluth, MN
35.
Day 33 – Duluth, MN to Sturgeon Bay, WI
36.
Day 34 – Sturgeon Bay, WI to St Ignace, MI
37.
Day 35 – St Ignace, MI to St Thomas, ON
38.
The Final Chapter
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